Paul Gallant
Toy designer
Paul-Émile Gallant (July 17, 1944 – September 13, 2011) was a Canadian entrepreneur who developed Puzz 3D three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles. He is also credited with inventing both the Wrebbit Puzzle Machine, which is now known as the Puzzle Shots Factory, and the Perfalock flat foam puzzle.
Gallant was born in Edmundston, New Brunswick. He initially began his career in the music industry, which lasted approximately eighteen years. Gallant worked for Trans Canada Musique, Columbia Records (a division of Sony Music) and the CBC.
Gallant switched careers and began working in the toy industry in the late 1980s. He began working on a new concept for the traditional puzzle, but involving 3D solutions inspired by commercial design. Gallant reportedly completed his prototype for what would be called Puzz-3D after one year of design.
In 1989, Gallant laminated polyethylene foam, the same type used to insulate airliner cockpits, with paper and built his first 3D puzzle (a miniature wall) on his kitchen table.
His new Puzz 3D puzzles, which often could be built into models of actual buildings and other landmark structures, could be placed on display indefinitely after completion. He founded his own company for Puzz 3D, which he called Wrebbit Inc., in partnership with Rene Binette.
The public source identifies “Paul Gallant” as toy designer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Paul, Gallant and designer.
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This entry incorporates text from “Paul Gallant” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.